Methven said in his programme notes before the 3-0 win over Southend United that Ross has been selected out of '52 credible candidates'.

Methven said last week that results on the pitch had been ahead of what he and Donald expected.

"Performances on the pitch, we hoped that, we knew that the first few months would be difficult with such a big turnover of players and a new league," he said.

"I think we said that around Christmas we hoped we’d be in and around the top six, to give us a platform to push on in the second half of the season.

"So where we are now, third with a game in hand, is probably a bit ahead where we thought we would be.

"So overall, thus far, cautiously with fingers crossed, I’d give it a good 7.5/10. There are things that could be perfect but that would be a bit greedy and a bit presumptuous. If you’d given us this, on and off the pitch, six months ago we’d have taken it and taken it gladly."